The Forum will bring together in Castilla-La Mancha stakeholders from EU’s rural areas and high-level participants, including Commissioner Ferreira and several EU Ministers.
- 25 September 2023
The High-level Rural Policy Forum is co-organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission (DG REGIO and DG AGRI)
The aim of the meeting is to gather key political actors to advance the political agenda for the future of rural areas, prepare a fruitful debate in the Council of the EU, and support Member States to take action to unlock the potential of rural areas in achieving the LTVRA objectives. It will help move forward towards greater complementarities among different policy instruments and strategies.
Since their launch in 2021, the Long-term Vision for EU’s Rural Areas (LTVRA) and the Rural Pact have gained political momentum at EU level, moving now towards Member: the Commission is exploring with the Spanish Presidency possibilities to adopt Council conclusions dedicated to LTVRA at the end of 2023, building on lessons learnt from the first two years of the implementation of the rural vision.
The Forum will gather over 200 participants from 27 Member States, targeting primarily policy makers and public authorities at EU and national involved in the management of EU funds, covering notably Cohesion Policy and CAP. It will also count with the participation of EU networks and initiatives, regional and local authorities, stakeholder groups, civil society organisations as well as academic institutions working on policy areas covered by the event, while balancing the countries represented at the Forum.
Participants in the Forum include Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira, Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski and DG REGIO Deputy Director-General Normunds Popens on the EC side. Members of the European Parliament, Committee of the Regions and European and Economic and Social Committee complete EU representation.
Spanish Minister for Agriculture Luis Planas and Secretary-General of EU funds (responsible for Cohesion Funds) Mercedes Caballero ensure Spanish representation. This is completed by Slovenian Minister for Agriculture Irena Šinko, Portuguese Secretary of State for Regional Development Isabel Ferreira and Wallonian Minister for the Environment Céline Tellier.
The agenda on 28 September will feature a Ministerial and an EU policy panel, a session on the Commission stocktaking on the contribution of Cohesion Policy and CAP to the Rural Vision and several thematic breakout sessions (women in rural areas, entrepreneurship and the social economy, community-led innovation and Smart Villages, food systems and bioeconomy…). A gala dinner is foreseen on 27 September, with field visits of projects financed by ERDF and EAFRD in the region taking place on 29 September.